Improvement in fly-traps



timidi tatc aiott ditta.

PETER n. HoRToN AND EZRA T. BRYAN, or MARnNeo TOWNSHIP, nIcHIGAN.

Lenen Patientin. 111,936, dated Februmym, 1871.

lMPROVEME-NT IN FLY-TRAPS.

The Schedule referred' to in these Letters Patent and malng part of the lame.

the light possible through its interstices, to be used 1 in connection and combination with any suitable opening through into a building, such as may he made. by

the partial lifting ot' a window-sash or opening of a` door, or-with specialopenings madeibr the purpose.

The mouth of the said netting-bag is designed to be so adjusted and'tit-ted against or through the walls of such opening that the interior of the. bag, when it is projected from the building, will communicate directly with the room from which the insectsare to be removed.

' The object of our invention is, b v the use of a cheap, portable appliance, to take advantage of the natural proclivity of insects t-oiiy toward'the light, and thus, by darkening'the room, to drive them more readily therefrom into the extended luminous sack, where they are 'captured in mass and may be disposed of in any desirable manner.

The invention consists in a bag made of netting or other material suitable for the purpose,'with distending strips and props, all so made that the whole device can be readily removed, thus dispensingwitha frame fixed to the window.

The invention also consists in combining with the bag converging wings or partitions, so arranged as to prevent the return of the insects to the room, all as hereinafter described.

',The most common'and ready application of our invention is embodied in the accompanying drawing, in Which- Figure 1 is a broken perspective view, showing the netted fly-receptacle as projected externally from a partially-opehed window. Figure 2 is a broken elevation as seen from the interior of the room, the window of which is provided with the fly-receptacle.

General Description .4' o A is .the {1y-receptacle, made usually in the form of a bag, of the fabric known as musqnito-nettiug, but it may. be of fme wire or other snitablemateiial.

`The bottom or end of this bag is usually 4furnished with two lateral wooden strips c e to distend it when in place, and the open end or mouth i's furnished like-- wise, as shown at e' e', Ato tack` the edge of the fabric to and facilitate its temporary attachment to the window-frame or other part of the building.

I usually hang or hook the lower mouth-strip c' over the window-stool s, and hang the upper strip against the face-casings G in the room, at a sutlicient height to permit, when the sash is lifted, free passage to the iiies.

The end nof the bag A may be conveniently supported in projection by meansof detachable props p p having a bearing at the upper end,vslipped over end-pins on the upper strip e, and said props being inolinediat the foot angular-ly against the building, will furnish the necessary tension to the netting; but` should `said netting be ofA wire it may be'readilyattached overthe opening so thatthe projecting end will not require support.

When itis deemed desirable to retain the netreceptacle in place, it may be converted into a trap by the addition of 'an interir-funnel-shaped rectangular bag, open at both ends, (as shown at a u;) or in place of this netted tapering bag, two wings, converging together at the inner ends, so as to form a narrow ingress, i, into the main receptacle A, will answer substantially the same purpose to prevent the return of the flies into the room from which they havebeen driven orenticed by the light or by bait,'or both conibined. l

Theoperation is as follows:

Our net-receptacle A is placedl against the outside4 case or wall of anyV opening leading into the interior of a room infested with flies or other. winged insects,

and its mouth is secured te'nporarily over such opening as before described, or in any other convenient manner.

The room is then darkened, usually by lowering the window-shades B on top of the netted bag, so that the opening leading into said net, as at D, will be the only luminous point.

The dies, 85e., in the room, disturbed by the darkuess','will in a few minutes, by the aid of a slight switching, swarm toward and pass through the luminous opening into the net-receptacle A, which, if provided with the funnel-netor side-wings a a, will secure them against areturn into the room when re-` lighted; otherwise the net A must be detached and its mouth closed before the window-shades are raised. In this way fles may be4 rapidly taken from rooms in mass and destroyed in any suitable `Way whenever convenient. i

.The obstruction toffee ventilation' and continual care involved inl the' use of net-work'blinds t0 exclude illes vd'uringv the 'sultry hours of the day.` lareserious objections to their use, and the same mayu be said of the iiy-poisons and haited traps to destroy dies, which are 1n their nature hoth dangerous and disgusting..

,Thea'pplieation `of our cheap,'safe, and cleanly device unil secure comfort in a house at all times, and especially when used just previous totaking'meals, as, although itmay be n either possible nor desirable to capture and destroy all the flies that infest a buiiiing as fast as they accumulate, by the use of our pro- )ectmg luminous net, yet it furnishes a'silnple and ready means of keepin r Atheir numbers'withn .bearable limits within the vhiring rooms cof a house. We do not claim broadly the employment of a nettuig-bag4 in connection with ,anni projecting' from ai window as a fly -trap,`as We are aware ihzit this Ahas been done before; but

We claim' :as our inventionl1. The net-workbag A,.provided with distendiug strips e c e' e' and props p p,wh'e n the adapted to be removedvfrom the door, other. opening, as herein described, whereby stationary frame is dispensed with.` l

2. -In combination with the bag A', mede7 provided, and applied-as described inthe preceding'clause, the converging-wings or partitions a a, having an apen* ing, i, betweenthem, at the center, toforni a trap,

Witnesses:

O. H.4 000K, C. T. Geox. 

